And Why Does That Matter?

No, this is the new definition of 'not welcome', no-one's actively blocking them... 

“Tennis,” a head coach from a prestigious club in Surrey casually remarked to me, “will never have a Marcus Rashford.”

The throwaway comment was made at a sparsely attended coaching forum on diversity in tennis in 2022. Less than six months later, I was at Surrey’s under-9 girls’ county cup with nine-year-old Sabein Weldegebriel, whose mother is from Ethiopia. I coach her in a park next to a south London council estate. Sabein’s success at getting to county level should give me hope that the head coach was wrong, but having been in this sport for 20 years, it is hard for me not to agree with him.

Perhaps instead of asking yourself 'Is he right or wrong?' you should maybe ask yourself 'Why should the colour of a person's skin matter more than whether or not they are a good player?' Chris...

Because the costs of becoming a professional tennis player are prohibitive to most kids, and the tennis establishment does very little to nurture talent in the way sports like football do.

Is this something charity could do instead? Yes, Reader, it is...and it's doing that.  

Sabein has had 100 hours of unpaid lessons with me over the past 12 months. We spotted her talent straight away when she came to G Tennis (grassroots tennis) about four years ago. A local charity that supports single parents, the Cheer Trust paid for initial group sessions, but the rest G Tennis has provided for free.

So what's the beef, Chris? 

I’m Sure Your Huge Salary Cushions The Blow…

Marcus Rashford has delivered a worrying message to fans on social media...

Oh, god, not another self-publicising 'poverty' campaign incoming?  

...revealing that he has endured 'months of abuse', with Man United supporters pinning some of the blame on YouTuber Mark Goldbridge.

Oh! And what's he guilty of? It seems the answer is 'noticing'. 

The 26-year-old forward has had a difficult season on the pitch, failing to match the achievements of his 30-goal haul during the 2022-23 campaign, scoring eight times so far across all competitions this season. Goldbridge runs a fan channel called The United Stand, which has 1.85million subscribers on YouTube. He has recently released several videos in which he criticises the England star, notably once referring to Rashford as 'about as useful as a wheelie bin with no wheels.'

Heh! Fair comment, you might think?  

In the early hours of Friday morning, Rashford responded to a post on X (formerly Twitter) that said the criticism he has received was unfair. The post read: 'The way Marcus Rashford is being treated is absolutely disgusting. It's cruel. It's abuse.' The United forward wrote back claiming that he was tired of the abuse he has received in recent months. 'I appreciate your support! It is abuse and has been for months. Enough is enough,' Rashford said.

Well, we have free speech in this country Marcus, so you'll just have to take it on the chin.   

Another user wrote on X: 'Anyone saying this is criticism is just lying to themselves, nothing to do with Marcus Rashford but brings him up anyway to pile the hate on.

'Mark Goldbridge is carrying out a well-thought-out hate campaign and he needs to be stopped.'

Oh, give me a break!  

If You Want This To Stop...

...then don't start to play:

The Collegiate Charter School of Lowell Girls' Basketball team dropped out of their February 8 game against KIPP Massachusetts after one of KIPP's players, who is a biological male, injured three of their athletes.

Why did they ever agree to play in the first place? If the Harlem Globetrotters were asked to play a team with a white member who'd blacked up, would they? Or would there be riots at the very idea...? 

How, exactly, is this any different?

Collegiate Charter School officials said the team decided to forfeit because the other players feared getting injured and not being able to compete in the playoffs that were a few days later.

Ladies, if you want this farce to stop immediately, stop enabling them by agreeing to play in the first place.